After System's blood cooled down, he lost all perception of the outside world.

  He couldn't see. His compound eyes seemed to have lost their ability to function. His vision, which was clear under the fluorescent light of the mushrooms just a moment earlier, suddenly went bck, as if someone had turned off the lights.

  He couldn't hear or smell. His antennae seemed to have stopped working. The strong bloody odor permeating the cave and the sound of wind rushing through its passages could no longer be perceived at all.

  He couldn't feel anything. He had no sensation of his contact with the ground, the flow of his blood, or the beating of his heart.

  He'd even lost his sense of temperature, gravity, and direction. He felt like his body was oriented normally, but he suddenly found that he couldn't actually tell which direction was up.

  He couldn't even activate the skill [Personal Information Generation] that had always been so easy to use in the past.

  System was only aware of the existence of his mind and the slow passage of time.

  ...

  'I don't know what happened to Shava...'

  As System was thinking to himself in the chaos, his mind suddenly sensed a series of extremely violent tremors. They were frequent and occurred at a regur pace, with a pulse occurring three or four times every second.

  'Is this...my heartbeat?'

  As System realized this, he suddenly felt his own body again.

  Although he still couldn't perceive anything in the outside world, he could now feel his body very clearly. He felt his blood as it flowed through him, and he sensed that his body's flesh was squirming and writhing around.

  Now that he'd regained his awareness of his body, [Personal Information Generation] could be used again. The information it dispyed clearly showed the words [Molting and Growth Mode].

  His third metamorphosis had indeed begun.

  Not long after, the familiar voice came from his bloodline again, asking him to make a choice.

  [Choose!]

  System didn't hesitate at all and still used the enhanced power generated by [Molting and Growth] on his [Digital Code].

  He appeared in the sea of numbers again, just as he had during his two previous metamorphoses.

  He turned into a huge ball of light once more, with several digital pnets circling around him in fixed orbits.

  However, System felt that the entire digital sea surrounding him was a little different than it had been during his previous metamorphosis. Many numbers converged in a disordered manner, forming solid, lumpy objects of various shapes that swam erratically in the digital sea.

  System observed them for a while and found nothing wrong, so he began guiding the power of [Molting and Growth] to strengthen the digital sea.

  Perhaps because it was his third metamorphosis, the strengthening power generated by [Molting and Growth] was very robust.

  The huge digital pnet that had failed to fully form in the digital sea during his previous metamorphosis was easily condensed successfully. Once formed, the giant pnet began circling around System in a very stable orbit.

  The huge pnet then gushed out countless numbers, gradually forming a brand new satellite that orbited around it.

  System felt the power from [Molting and Growth] slowly decrease as it strengthened the digital sea.

  Having learned his lesson after his previous two metamorphoses, System took the initiative to exit the digital sea at this point, avoiding a possible bckout.

  After exiting the digital sea, he carefully sensed his transforming body.

  His flesh and blood were slowly moving according to a certain pattern, and his metamorphosis was proceeding in an orderly manner. Like the previous two times, he still didn't need to control the process manually.

  However, with his metamorphosis progressing at its current rate, it seemed like the process would take a long time to finish.

  System checked [Personal Information Generation] and found that his talent [Digital Code] (3/3) had directly upgraded by two levels to [Digital Code] (5/5), and many abilities reted to [Digital Code] were also improved.

  He obtained a very peculiar ability, [Data Compition], and its Derived Skill, [Ability Enhancement], which were the huge pnet and its satellite that had just formed in the digital sea.

  ...

  [Data Compition] (3/5): A Special Talent obtained from [Digital Code] and [Molting and Growth]. Provides the ability to compile and process data. System's unique Special Talent.

  [Ability Enhancement] (3/5): A Derived Skill obtained from [Data Compition]. Provides the ability to enhance one's own abilities or those of other targets. System's unique Derived Skill.

  ...

  Regarding the talent [Data Compition], System didn't have a deep understanding of it for now. He could only use the most superficial aspects of this strange ability.

  Still, even the most basic, surface level aspects of [Data Compition] were very peculiar.

  Using this new ability, System made a slight change to the interface of [Personal Information Generation], creating a brand new interface.

  He easily added some small functions to it, such as ones for keeping time, measuring length, giving directions, doing calcutions, recording videos, and taking pictures.

  System wasn't a programmer in his previous life, and he didn't recall ever being involved in any work compiling programs, but he easily created a passable menu interface in a short time.

  The moment he completed the menu interface, System gained a brand new ability.

  ...

  [Information Menu] (2/5): A Derived Skill created by System using [Data Compition]. Provides the unique abilities to measure time, give directions, calcute, take pictures, etc. System's unique Derived Skill.

  ...

  System designed the interface of the [Information Menu] himself. It was somewhat simir to a computer desktop from his previous life, while also being reminiscent of a smartphone.

  He fiddled with the [Information Menu] casually and found that it could also be integrated with some other abilities. He easily integrated the three Derived Skills [Personal Information Generation], [Information Entry], and [Information Reading] into the [Information Menu].

  The moment he completed the integration, these four abilities merged into one, forming a brand new ability.

  ...

  [Tools Menu] (5/12): A Special Talent System created by integrating many Derived Skills into the [Information Menu]. Provides many unique abilities such as viewing personal information and recording, reading, and analyzing data. System's unique Special Talent.

  ...

  System fiddled with the newly appeared [Tools Menu]. He was a little curious. If he went to the digital sea of [Digital Code] again at this time, what form would this [Tools Menu] appear in? Would it be a pnet? A satellite? Or...a comet, perhaps?

  Continuing to manipute the [Tools Menu], he tried to integrate the [Ability Enhancement] skill that had been derived from [Data Compition].

  However, after trying several times, he found that he couldn't integrate it at all. Although [Ability Enhancement] had been derived from [Data Compition], this ability was obviously very deep and complex. System couldn't understand it yet, so he didn't know how to integrate it.

  Although he couldn't fully understand it, System could still use the skill freely.

  The function of [Ability Enhancement] was very special, and it made System feel like he was pying an RPG. Through this ability, he could control his body's experience bar and distribute his experience at will.

  In fact, it couldn't be said that System had an experience bar at all. After mastering [Ability Enhancement], he realized that the experience bar that allowed him to increase his level was actually more like a kind of potential stored inside his body.

  Using [Ability Enhancement], System could call on this potential to enhance his various abilities. This was very different from how he'd unconsciously enhanced them according to his body's instincts and [Insect Adaptability] when gaining levels in the past.

  It was just like when a game character leveled up and generated attribute points and skill points that could be freely allocated, but System could only allocate one thing—the experience in his experience bar.

  On top of that, he found that he could even use this ability to strengthen other targets.